Court orders trial to decide whether Michigan legislative maps harm Black voters
A federal lawsuit arguing that Michigan's new state legislative districts illegally disenfranchise Black voters will proceed to trial after a court ruling issued by a three-judge panel Tuesday.
A group of metro Detroit residents who filed the lawsuit last March sought a court order requiring Michigan's redistricting commission to redraw the state Senate and House maps. The legal challenge followed a similar one rejected by the Michigan Supreme Court.
U.S. Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote the order on behalf of the panel that will allow some of the challenges to the new district lines to proceed to trial while tossing others. At issue in the trial is "whether the Commission went too far in lowering black voter percentages in Detroit-area districts," Kethledge wrote. The three-judge panel are all appointees of former President George W. Bush, a Republican.
The state legislative maps adopted by Michigan's inaugural independent, citizen-led commission paired Detroit — a majority-Black city — with surrounding suburban communities. The resulting lines eliminated the majority-Black districts in the state Senate and reduced the number of those districts in the state House.
Under those maps, Democrats secured control of both chambers of the state Legislature for the first time in 40 years.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2023/08/29/trial-to-decide-whether-michigan-districts-hurt-black-voters/69509938007/